Former St. Louis-area Officer Guilty of Murder

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A former suburban St. Louis police officer has been convicted of second-degree murder.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 44-year-old Eugene Burrell was convicted Thursday in the shooting death of 29-year-old Justin Young.

The shooting happened on Aug. 26, 2010, in St. Louis. Burrell claimed self-defense. But witnesses testified that Burrell waited in his home’s front doorway for Young and shot him immediately after Young threw a brick through the front window. The men had been quarrelling over the pay of Young’s fiancée, who worked for Burrell’s food vending business.

Burrell is a former reserve office in several suburban towns — University City, Kinloch, Pine Lawn, Jennings and Velda City. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation for a 1998 rape and kidnapping of a woman.